Jason Tennant: Being a BSL tour guide (BSL)

For the past 8 years, I have had the great joy of working as a BSL tour guide, sharing my passion for history and artwork with people from all walks of life including the Deaf community and BSL users. 

I remember growing up visiting museums and art galleries and as a Deaf person, I had to fill in the gaps and read the notes and work out what was happening in between. I also remember visiting the British Museum and the Science Museum in London and seeing all the groups of school children being led by staff to do activities and learning about the objects here and there.

I knew that whenever I saw groups of people being led by tour guides were getting information that I was missing out on. I did dream for a long time, could I possibly do this one day? How do I know where to start?

Luckily, 8 years ago, I was asked to represent the Deaf community in the Turner Contemporary in Margate, for their new Access Group meetings. It was the Turner who offered me the opportunity to deliver BSL tours to the local Deaf community to see if there was any interest at all. 

I’ve been so lucky as every tour I’ve delivered in the Turner since then, I’ve had people from all over Kent and the UK turn up and be guided by myself. 

I somehow found myself working in the role of one of my dream jobs and honestly, the Turner is beautiful, if you ever find yourself there, please feel free to come along to one of my tours.

Since then, each tour has been an opportunity to educate and inspire, making every day on the job immensely rewarding. The joy on visitors’ faces when they connect with a story or gain a deeper understanding of what I’m describing and teaching genuinely makes me feel like I’m making a valuable contribution.

I’ve delivered tours all over Kent, translated audio materials for outdoor exhibitions and even completed my first ever walking LGBT+ tour in South Croydon late last year. 

But then the seemingly impossible happened last May, when I went to a BSL tour in the British Museum, delivered marvellously by one of the wonderful Deaf tour guides there and afterwards I was asked… do you want to deliver BSL tours for us in the future, here?

I knew that I was pinching myself and thinking… all those years ago, when I was looking at everyone, wishing I could be led, that little boy who just wanted to learn and find out about all the magical objects, artwork and stories behind everything… now I could make that little boy proud and do this for everyone else.

My dream finally came true when I delivered a tour in the Parthenon gallery, the same gallery where I was, when I was little, almost 20 years later to a lovely group of Deaf people and BSL users who turned up and learnt about the stories behind the Elgin marbles.

It’s safe to say that I hope to continue in this role for as long as I possibly can!

Now as I look towards the future, I am excited to be in the process of setting up my own website. 

This website will serve as a hub for future tours, with information on how to book and when they are taking place, enabling me to reach a wider audience. I will also be starting a new Instagram and Facebook page to help spread the signs even more. 

This venture feels like a natural progression in my career, allowing me to expand my impact and continue advocating for the importance of inclusive communication and access to more galleries and museums and places of education all over Kent and London and wherever else that is needed.

The website is also the beginning of several collaborations and the start of a great process where I hope one day everyone that wants to go somewhere and access something in BSL will always find something there for them.

If you want more information or to join my tours, here is my website link. Any feedback or thoughts would be much appreciated. 

jasonbsl.com

My Instagram and Facebook page are under the same handle – jasonbsltours

But my biggest hope of all is that in the future, little Deaf boys and girls like myself, will never have to feel left out. 

Here’s to the future, to more tours and more awareness and I hope to meet some of you, one day.